Thursday, 26 March 2020

References to Woden, Hengist and Horsa in Bede-a Comparison with Other Sources

My readers may wish to read my Woden in Old English Literature and Woden in Mediaeval English Literature in order to gain some background knowledge in the early English references to Woden as I do not intend to go over old ground. In addition to the sources referred to in the earlier essays we have of course the reference to Woden in the genealogies of the kings of the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. These genealogies are to be found of course in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles but we also have some references by Bede in the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.  Penned by Bede when he was about 59 years of age in 731 it is the first example of an English identity to be expressed in literature.

Born in Jarrow in the historical county of Durham Bede joined St Peter and St Paul's Abbey at Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, a double Benedictine monastery, at the age of 7, surviving at the age of 14 a plague that killed most of the population in the vicinity. A pupil of Alcuin he became a scholar of great renown and historically plays an important part in the forging of an English identity. Indeed he is known as the 'Father of English History' and deservedly so. Unfortunately his writings are largely ignored by the heathen community but as I have said before if we are serious about reviving Germanic heathenism we must comb through the historic sources and attempt to place our religion on a traditional and historic footing. That does not mean that we should not have a contemporary outlook but we can not and should not ignore the past.

I first read Bede's Ecclesiastical History in the mid 1980s as a Christian and visited many places associated with Bede and early English Christianity such as the monastery remains at the front of St Peter's Church in Jarrow and St Peter's Church at Monkwearmouth in Sunderland, also in the historic county of Durham. It should be noted that St Peter's at Monkwearmouth contains many original Anglo-Saxon architectural features dating back to the 7th and 10th centuries. The 'Bede's Chair' found at St Paul's, Jarrow has been carbon dated to the 14th century and thus not Bede's but remarkable none the less.

Bede starts his history with the Roman invasion of 55 BCE and then works up to the traditional tale of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of 449 CE and the formation of the early kingdoms of these Germanic peoples in Britain. He makes reference to Hengest and Horsa and gives a tantalising clue as the location of the burial of Horsa:


The two first commanders are said to have been Hengist and Horsa. Of whom Horsa, being afterwards slain in battle by the Britons, was buried in the eastern parts of Kent, where a monument, bearing his name, is still in existence. 

Bede reveals the divine ancestry of Hengest and Horsa:


They were the sons of Victgilsus, whose father was Vecta, son of Woden; from whose stock the royal race of many provinces deduce their original. 


It should be noted at this point that Bede does not indicate that Woden was a deity but I suspect that he was aware of this anyway. There are no further references to Woden in this particular work. The book gives a fascinating insight into the Christian perception of the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons. Bede is also noted for his reference to the Saxon Goddess Eostre in his The Reckoning of Time, written in 725 and the Goddess Hrethe in the same work.


A later reference to Hengest and Horsa is to be found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain, written by the year 1155. Contained within it is this intriguing passage:

"The king, at the name of Mercury, looking earnestly upon them, asked them what religion they professed. 'We worship', replied Hengest, 'our country gods, Saturn and Jupiter, and the other deities that govern the world, but especially Mercury, whom in our language we call Woden, and to whom our ancestors consecrated the fourth day of the week, still called after his name, Wednesday. Next to him we worship the powerful goddess, Frea, to whom they also dedicated the sixth day, which after her name we call Friday." 

So a full 4 centuries after Bede the names of at least two of our deities lingered on, despite the best attempts of the Church to eradicate any memory of them. It should be noted that a Hengest is referred to in the Finnesburgh Fragment, an Old English poem that is probably contemporary with Beowulf. The brothers are also referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and the 9th century History of the Britons by Nennius. There is also a brief reference to Hengist in Snorri's Prologue to the Prose Edda Snorri states that the father of Hengist was Vitta, the son of Vitrgils, the son of Veggdegg.

*The translation of Bede's Eccesiastical History of the English Nation has been copied from https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/bede-book1.asp

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